Obesity and being overweight often result in serious health problems. Despite growing awareness of the dangers associated with being overweight, many individuals struggle to lose weight. Investigators have identified social support as a key element in weight-loss attempts. Unfortunately, little has been done to investigate how people solicit social support from members of their pre-existing social network without a structured intervention. To address this limitation, I conducted in-depth interviews with 25 participants. Through grounded theory analysis of these interviews, I developed a typology of support management strategies used by overweight young adults when attempting to lose weight. I outline these strategies, their perceived success, and implications for future research in this article.
Keywords: communication; obesity / overweight; relationships; social support; weight management; young adults.